News, 9/23/2012

President Niinistö to attend the UN General Assembly

President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö will attend the opening of the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly on 23–29 September 2012. President Niinistö will deliver Finland’s statement as part of the general debate on Tuesday, 25 September.

Finland is seeking membership of the UN Security Council for the term 2013-2014. During the week President Niinistö will attend events relating to the membership campaign and will also hold several bilateral meetings with various heads of state.

President Niinistö will meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, 23 September. On Monday, 24 September President Niinistö will attend the High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law, where he will deliver the joint statement of the Nordic countries.

On the same day Finland will host the high-level event on “Women’s Access to Justice” together with South Africa and UN Women. In addition to President Niinistö the speakers at the event will include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet, and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

During the opening week President Niinistö will also attend other events, including the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and a reception hosted by President of the United States Barack Obama.

President Niinistö will head the Finnish delegation, which will be co-chaired by Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala and Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson.